Farewell Talk

 Farewell Talk

Introduction:

Good morning brothers and sisters! I am excited to be with you all this morning! As Brother Huler said, I have been called to serve in the Washington, Vancouver mission and I could not be more excited! I start my home MTC training in just two weeks and report to the Provo MTC on July 17! I am beyond excited to serve the amazing people in Washington!

Today I will be speaking on how the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost brings us closer to the Savior. Christ doesn’t want us to ever be alone, so he gives each of us the gift of a constant companion. If we accept this gift, and continually strive to be worthy of it, The Holy Ghost will be by our side through everything. Through the Holy Ghost, we can feel the love of Christ and we can receive promptings to help us become more like the Savior.  

The hymn “Let the Holy Spirit Guide” points out some of the roles of the Holy Ghost in our personal lives. Today I want to take some time on each of these roles. 

Let the Holy Spirit Guide; let him teach us what is true

The first line in this song says, “Let the Holy Spirit guide; let him teach us what is true”. The Spirit is always with us to help us make the right choice in everything we do. The Holy Ghost guides us through small promptings, some of which might feel insignificant. You may feel a prompting to visit a family member you haven’t seen in a while. You may feel a prompting to go spend some time in the temple. You may feel a prompting to go see a friend who may be struggling. You may even feel a prompting to go talk to a random stranger. The list goes on and on. Every good prompting you receive is from the Holy Ghost, guiding you to stay on the path back to our Heavenly Father. If you accept these promptings, you will have a more Christlike attitude and mindset, helping you to grow more like our Savior. 

As President Henry B. Eyring said, “The companionship of the Holy Ghost makes what is good, more attractive, and temptation less compelling”. With the Holy Ghost by our side, we are drawn to the choices that are true and right. 

The Holy Spirit also has the power to teach us. In his talk titled “Our Constant Companion” from the October 2023 general conference, President Eyring states, “We can be taught by and learn from the Spirit line upon line, receiving what we need, and then when we are ready, we will receive more”. The Spirit won’t throw everything we need to know at us all at once. Instead, when we are ready, we will receive small bits and pieces that we need right at that moment.

This reminds me of a talk given in this last general conference. This was Elder Dushku’s talk titled “Pillars and Rays”. He talks about Joseph Smith and the pillar of light he received. In our lives, the likelihood of us seeing a pillar of light as an answer to our prayers is pretty low, but we all are constantly receiving small rays that build up our own pillar. Elder Dushku said “If we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost and are striving to exercise faith, repent, and honor our covenants, then we are worthy to receive these divine rays constantly”. Hearing this talk led me to reflect on my own life and come to see some of my personal rays. 

One of the biggest rays for me is my family. They are my built-in best friends. I am so blessed to be part of such an amazing family and I am so thankful for their constant love and support.

Another big ray for me is my roommates. Moving down to college with 3 girls, 2 of which were complete strangers, was so scary, but it turned out to be such a big blessing for me and they are seriously my best friends! All 4 of us have or will be serving missions. It has been so cool to prepare for our missions together and I am so thankful for their examples to me.  

Another major ray for me was the day I went through the temple for the first time. Never in my life have I felt such peace and love as I did that day. The temple is my favorite place. I love spending time there and renewing my covenants while helping those on the other side of the veil make covenants with Heavenly Father. After going through, I made it a goal to go to the temple at least once a week. This was such an amazing testimony builder for me! Being in the temple cancels out all of my worries in the world. I am able to focus only on Christ and the relationship I have with Him. Having a temple within walking distance of our homes is such an amazing blessing. We are so lucky to be so close to the house of the Lord. 

My high school friends are another ray in my life. A lot of my friends are currently serving missions all around the world and they have set the most amazing examples for me! I am blessed to have some of the best friends and they mean the world to me. 

I am so thankful for the small rays in my life that help me to feel my Heavenly Father’s love. These small moments have all led me to serving a mission and becoming the person I am today.

He will testify of Christ, light our minds with heaven’s view

The next line in this hymn says “He will testify of Christ, light our minds with heaven’s view”. When I hear this line, I think of President Nelson’s talk titled “Think Celestial”. This talk focuses on how to live with an eternal perspective, or as the hymn says, lighting our mind with heaven’s view. To me, an eternal perspective is making each decision in our life with the end in mind. This gives us a stronger purpose and direction in everything we do. Without an eternal perspective, we can easily get lost in the ideas of the world. With an eternal perspective, our entire focus is pointed towards Christ, helping us find our way home to Him again. 

Whenever I make a decision, I try to think of my choices with the mindset of “what would Jesus do?” When I consider this, I am more likely to make a choice that helps me grow to be more like Jesus Christ. The Spirit reminds us of our final goal whenever we make a decision. He opens our minds to see how each choice we make affects our eternal progress. 2 Nephi 9:39 says “to be spiritually minded is life eternal”. As we strive to live with an eternal perspective, we can gain eternal life. 

Let the Holy Spirit guard; let his whisper govern choice

Next in the hymn it says “Let the Holy Spirit guard; let his whisper govern choice”. The spirit knows how to keep us safe. He sends thoughts to our minds to protect us both spiritually and physically. When we receive and accept the ideas the spirit brings to our minds, our choices can change and can help us make a more Christlike decision. As a missionary, the Spirit will be so crucial in all of my decisions. I have to trust in God and know that what I am doing is what he wants me to be doing. 

I have friends serving missions all over the world right now. I asked one of my best friends to share with me an experience he has had where the whisper of the Holy Spirit guided him. He shared with me the story of Antonio. Here is what he said: 

We were in a trailer park one day where we had had a ton of success finding people. We were walking down the street and saw Antonio walking with his dogs. We asked him if he would like a message about Jesus Christ and he accepted. He was interested from that first contact in coming to church. He ended up not coming to church that next week or the week after that. After a few missed calls and texts we were considering stopping teaching him. Fast forward about 2 weeks and it was pday. I had been thinking all day what we should do after pday ended and the whole day the trailer park kept coming to my head that we needed to go there. So when pday ended we went and did a few visits in that area. We were walking to leave the area to go somewhere else and my companion stopped and said “why don’t we call Antonio while we’re here?” It sounded like a good idea so we gave him a call. He answered and told us to come over right then because he was free. We went over and he came out with a framed picture in his hand. He proceeded to tell us that the man in the picture was one of his best friends Jose and that he had passed away 6 months earlier, instantly we knew why we were there. He asked us to pray with him for his friend Jose and after the prayer, we started to teach Antonio where his friend Jose is now. We taught all about the spirit world and what happens there. In that moment while I was teaching him, the spirit whispered to me that I should tell him that his friend Jose had found the truth in the spirit world. I also shared that Jose was with us at that moment because he wanted Antonio to find the truth as well. As I said that the room filled with the strongest spirit. Antonio told us that an hour before we had called, he had gotten on his knees and prayed to God to send his messengers to lead and guide him. What a cool miracle that we called only an hour later!

I love this story so much. Seeing my friends have these kinds of experiences makes me so excited for me to have my own. The spirit is so powerful. Christ talks to us through the spirit and when we follow it, miracles can happen. 

He will lead us safely home, if we listen to His voice

 

The next role of the Spirit is “He will lead us safely home,” but the end of this line states “if we listen to His voice”. The Spirit doesn’t just put us on His back and walk us all the way back home. Instead, we are required to listen to His voice, and apply what we learn or hear to our lives. 

Elder David P. Homer gave a talk about Hearing His voice. In this specific talk, he mentions how there are a million different voices fighting for our attention. Some of these voices will lead us astray, and oftentimes, it can be really difficult to be able to listen to the right voice. Sometimes, it is really clear and really obvious which voice we should listen to, other times, it's not that easy. 

 Elder Homer says, “Heavenly Father has made it possible for us to hear and follow His [voice]. If we are diligent, He and His Son will give us the direction we seek, the strength we need, and the happiness we desire”.

 When I hear this, I see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ patiently waiting with open arms for us to choose the right voice and come back to them. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will never give up on us, even if we choose the wrong choice. They are always there, waiting to welcome us back into their arms if we choose to do so. 

Let the Spirit heal our hearts through His gentle, quiet power

The next section in the song talks about the comfort and love of Christ we feel through the Spirit. It reads “Let the Spirit heal our hearts through His gentle, quiet power”. I have experienced many times that the Spirit has reminded me of the love that God has for me personally. 

A couple months ago I was feeling so scared about serving a mission. I was worried about leaving home, I was worried about not knowing enough, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. This was really hard for me and it seemed as though it wouldn’t go away. One day, I went to the temple and prayed to feel peace and comfort and feel confident in my abilities to serve. I opened my scriptures to Moses 1 and came across verses 25 and 26 and they really stuck with me. They read: “And calling upon the name of God, he beheld his glory again, for it was upon him; and he heard a voice saying: Blessed art thou, Moses, for I, the Almighty, have chosen thee, and thou shalt be made stronger than many waters; for they shall obey they command as if thou wert God. And lo, I am with thee even unto the end of thy days; for thou shalt deliver my people from bondage, even Israel my chosen”. 

After reading these, I felt so much comfort. I knew that God was talking right to me and telling me that I would be able to do this. He knows what I am capable of, and if I follow the Spirit, I can be even more capable and strong. These words have brought me so much comfort the last 6 months of preparing for my mission. Whenever I start to doubt again, I am instantly reminded of these scriptures and the feeling I felt reading them the first time. 

May we purify our lives to receive Him hour by hour

The last line in the hymn states “May we purify our lives to receive Him hour by hour”. I love this line. It shows to me that it takes effort on our part for us to be able to receive the guidance and knowledge we need. President Nelson once said “To do anything well requires effort. Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is no exception”. None of us have a perfectly pure life. We all can do a little better every day. It doesn’t have to be a grand event, but it can be small, simple things that grow our Christlike attributes. 

My great grandpa Jack had a quote he lived by. It simply said “Work hard, keep the commandments, have a positive attitude, and show gratitude”. This for me, is something that I remind myself of daily to help myself purify my life so I can grow closer to my Savior. 

I have been asked why I am serving a mission. And my answer is to help people do this. I am not going on a mission for myself. I am going on a mission to help the people in Washington to come to know their Savior, help them purify their lives to be able to receive Him, and help them learn to love Him the way I do. Everyone has the chance to feel the same happiness that we feel from the gospel. I hope that I am able to share this joy with everyone I meet in Washington, whether they accept it for themselves or not. 

Conclusion

In the April 2018 general conference, President Nelson said that “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost”. I fully believe this is true. For me, the Holy Ghost is like a map, leading me home to my Savior. If we follow Him, we will stay on the path. If we fall off the path, we are given so many second chances to follow Him again and get right back on the path. 

My mission scripture is Alma 26:12 which reads “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.” This scripture is so important to me, and who I will be as a missionary. I don’t need to rely on my own strength. I have the Lord by my side through it all and He will help me to be the strongest missionary I can be. The miracles I see won’t be because of my doing, but will be because of the Lord. I get to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands for the next 18 months and I can’t wait to see how the Lord blesses those I meet. 

Testimony!